you have harry reid, mitch mcconnell arriving at the white house, should have house leadership shortly to begin a meeting, a last ditch effort to try to help the economy avoid the fiscal cliff, or at least pieces of it, and, yes, the buzz around washington is a possible path forward that aids describe as preventing tax increase for income amounts of $400,000 or $500,000 or so, extend unemployment insurance, but, still, nothing has been agreed to. all in washington are waiting to see how this meeting goes. it's just about to start here in dc. meanwhile, on capital hill, the fighting continues, and in some corners, a sense of pessimism. >> if we don't have a deal within the next 24 hours, the question is where do you buy a parachute? we'll be going over the cliff because the closer we get to the end, the less likely it is you can compress an agreement into place that will have enough votes to pass. >> this is basically it. the first time in weeks the top democrat, the top republican from the house and senate have gotten together here at the white house with the president and vice preside